Meeting my identical twin

This weekend I met a girl from Switzerland. Her family is originally
from Congo. We were in the same small group at a conference I attended
in Frankfurt. When we found out that we both are interested in
international development, we wanted to chat more and decided to
have lunch together.

We talked about our our passion for social justice, our many travels,
about being restless, and how that impacts on your relationships with
other people. We talked about what sense of belonging is when you have
spent shorter or longer times in many places. About settling, etc.

Every other minute one of us would say: I know exactly what you mean!
Hearing her speak was like hearing my own thought spoken by another
person. Some of the things I have formulated in other words myself,
others things I had never said out loud before.

I may never have met a person in my life that I felt so similar to
and therefore also understood by. In my best relationships I
“understand” others because I know the personality of a person and
therefore also understand why s/he thinks or reacts in a certain way.

The fascinating thing about relationship is often the differences,
which on the one hand can frustrate us and on the other hand draws us
to others and fascinates us. However I must admit when sitting by that
lunch table and hearing the person across from me coming to
conclusions on travelling, restlessness, home, etc. which I have also
come to was extremely fascinating too. Besides being fascinated, it
also left me with a feeling of being fully accepted and even a feeling
of “not being alone”.

She had dark skin and long braids and I white skin and flat
blond hair, but personality wise the resemblance was so outspoken that
I considered for a moment if she might have been my real twin – my
real identical twin.